I have a question about the word "Island"...
Does somebody know why you don't pronounce the "s" in the word "island"? I just don't understand why... also the state of "Arkansas" why the last "s" is not pronounced, either? I hope you can understand my English. Thank you.
15 Answers
The short and sweet...it's simply a rule in English. When there is an "s" between the letters "i" and "l" it is silent like island or isle. 
As for Arkansas, I really couldn't get a clear answer from a website so I will simply say "because the "s" is silent and that's how it's pronounced". Hey 1 out of 2 isn't bad.
Another state, Illinois, doesn't pronounce the last "s" either.
ILL-a-noy
There is no rule that defines the pronunciation. The 's' in 'island' came to be because of a misspelling. I pulled the following from entymonline. You have to remember that although English has some roots in Latin, it is not a true romance language.
"Island, spelled iland, first appears in Old English in King Alfred's translation of Boethius about A.D. 888; the spellings igland and ealond appear in contemporary documents. The s in island is due to a mistaken etymology, confusing the etymologically correct English iland with French isle. Isle comes ultimately from Latin ?nsula "island," a component of paen?nsula, "almost-island," whence our peninsula."
One of my favorites goes all the way back to George Bernard Shaw. He pointed out the difficulties of spelling in English by showing that you can apply rules from other words to spell "fish" as "ghoti". The explanation: Take "gh" as it is pronounced in "enough" to give you your "f" sound. Take "o" as it is pronounced in "women" to supply your "i" sound. Take the "ti" as it is pronounced in "nation" to supply your "sh" sound. Hence, "fish" can be spelled as "ghoti"!
There's place in the US which became popular because the movie "Somewhere in TIme" was mainly filmed there - Mackinac Island in Michigan. The name of the place is sometimes pronounced like "ma ki no". It's a beautiful and unforgettable place.
Silent letters man. It's that simple really.
It's also like the word "white". The "h" isn't pronounced. It's just the rules of English phonetics. Shoot, even I don't understand it and I've been speaking English my whole life!
The spelling trick for island = is land. It is a spelling trick because the “s” is silent. Pronounced (ahy-luhnd)
Isle is a short version of Island and the “s” is also silent. Pronounced (ahyl)
Aisle is a walkway and the “s” is also silent. In fact it is pronounced the same as Isle.
They all follow the rule posted by “Jason7R
Since some of you are posting about “o” here is something I did a many years before a long time ago and attempted to pull from my memory. Yah we do silly things in grade school.
The “O”
“of” a simple word pronounced (uv) like in up.
Well this type of bird should be spelled “Dof “or “Duv”; but no it is spelled Dove. Pronounced (duv)
But there is an e at the end and the “o” should sound hard, no problem I will fix that.
Dove does have a hard “o” sound after you Dive into the water. Pronounced (dóv)
But they but their spelled the same, can it go more wrong?
If you love this than you will “adore” the next one
Step right in through the “dore” wait that’s wrong! it’s “door” Pronounced (dór) But “a door” has the same “o” sound as “adore”
Do you feel the “doom” of the “o” lingering overhead?
The “oo” in “doom” does not have that “door” sound, it sounds like the “u” in flume.
Are you getting this o sound yet?
Remember the “o”s are “not” that hard.
Hey wait a second, new sound.
A rope with “naught” “knots” is a rope that does “not” have a “knot”.
Yes they are all pronounced the same and where the hell did the “k” “come” “from” Pronounced “cum” “frum”
Just check “above” at the u sound of “of” O.K.
The word "Polka" is another example. Now, I noticed that people don't pronounce the "l". They pronounce it like "Poka". I guess I just have to memorize them.
Here are some more unusual pronunciation words from skit by a comedian named Galleger (sp)
comb = o sound
bomb = a sound
tomb = u sound
Lots of pronunciation rules in English don't make sense. These words are pronounced completely differently although they're spelled the same:
through /throo/
rough /ruff/
bough /bou/
dough /doe/
I'm afraid that many times in English you just have to memorize the specific cases :(
Others would be Knife and Know. The K is silent. I"m sure there is a rule somewhere but like MeEncanta...I've learned to live with it without knowing why {Oh look, there's another one, why.}
Here is another one. Iceland. In Icelandic the name Iceland is ísland. pronounced
eis laand eis as in the is sound in gris in spanish. translated to english ísland is really Island as well. american's (which i am) or english speakers, when they heard ísland they heard iceland. that's how it got it's name. but iceland's name is really island. I heard this story from my faðir, í íslenska(dad, in icelandic), who in turn heard it from his mother(my grandmother, or amma in icelandic) My grandmother spoke icelandic and visited iceland often she had several awards for her work, and a few medal trophy things, that unfortunately had to be returned when she passed away. In memory of her i am now learning Icelandic. One of the hardest languages to learn. at least in my opinion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hoz_f26KcE
You pronounce "Island" like this
(Is-Land)
The word "IS" and "LAND"
Pronounce it like this - I - Land (Island)
